Thursday, June 19, 2008

Sometimes the Leftovers Are Better...

I wanted to celebrate the Solstice a little early, so last night (on the night of the full moon, mind you) I grilled out. What better way to celebrate the Summer Solstice than by cooking most of my meal outside? For my protein, I made the Hot Glazed Tempeh from the Veganomicon:

I've made this before, but last time, it was mid-winter ... not exactly appropriate grilling time. So I broiled it that time, and it was good. But grilling makes all the difference in the world with this recipe. If you haven't tried this yet, do it now before it gets all cold again.

I also sliced some farmer's market zucchini and stuffed it in a packet of aluminum foil, along with a little Smart Balance Light (it's vegan and has less fat than Earth Balance) and seasoning salt:

This is how my mom prepared our zucchini and squash on Father's Day, and it was so tasty, I had to have more. Grilling zucchini gives it a delightfully smoky flavor.

But my other dish was kind of a disaster. I tried to create a baked mac & cheeze recipe for my Southern vegan cookbook. But it came out a little, um, dry:

First, I made a cashew cheeze sauce in the food processor. It was so yummy and super-duper creamy. And I should have just stirred it into the cooked macaroni and called it done. But instead, I tried to get all Paula Deen with it. I added flour to the mix, as well as extra soymilk. Then I topped it with shredded Follow Your Heart vegan cheddar, and stuck it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Bad move. The flour sucked all the life out of the cashew cheeze, leaving it a dry, yet pretty tasty mess. And the FYH didn't melt a bit. Luckily, I salvaged the leftovers for lunch today by throwing a little of it into a saucepan with more soymilk and more nooch. The FYH actually melted into the macaroni.

The result was creamy, cheezy goodness. So I'm going to try this recipe again soon, but I promise to steer clear of the oven. Besides, what was I thinking running the hot oven when I was grilling most of my meal outside? I know, it's crazy talk.

The tempeh looks too good...And you call that a disaster? Have you noticed that the leftovers look great? If you can save the leftovers, it wasn't that bad :-)

PS: about your book, I've been thinking about what you told me that it's so difficult to find a publisher and so on. Have you thought of creating a downloadable pdf to sell on your blog? Maybe you could sell the chapters independently... I would definitely buy it...

Update on the Teese: last time it left the freezer was for an artichoke dip and I thought it was fine. This time, though, it had to stand up to pizza. Grating it after it had been frozen, it kind of just fell apart (worse than before) and it didn't melt quite as well. Still good though--just not as aesthetically pleasing.

Ooooh, hello mac n' cheese take 2. Looks really good. I love zucchini in a foil packet too! I gets all soft and buttery. And the hot sauce glazed tempeh, yum. I made it on a grill pan. A great summertime meal!

My name is Bianca ...

About Me

I'm a 9-year vegan, 19-year vegetarian from the Mid-South, not too far from the muddy banks of the Mississippi River. And that means cornbread, butter beans, and collard greens.
These days, I live in Memphis. Check out my cookbook — Cookin' Crunk. It's filled with yummilicious veganized soul food and country classics.